This matter was put to rest.
At least, for now.
But Du Lanyue knew that her parents still hoped she would bring home the person she loved as soon as possible.
Du Lanyue hadn't expected her parents to be so open-minded.
Indeed, the natural disaster had not only changed the country but also people's temperaments. In the past, such rebellious behavior would have been a family scandal.
Yet now, it was met with her parents' understanding.
Gu Qingcheng returned to the inn. Mi Guo, upon hearing that his sister was back, impatiently knocked on her door to find her. As soon as he entered, he exclaimed:
"Why were you out for so long this time? Did something fun delay your trip?"
"Not only was there nothing fun, but we almost lost our lives."
Gu Qingcheng would share both good and bad news with Mi Guo.
However, with her parents, she would be more reserved, talking up the good and downplaying the bad, lest they worry too much.
"Ah? What happened?"
Mi Guo quickly asked.
Gu Qingcheng recounted the events in detail.
Mi Guo, much like listening to a storyteller, felt his emotions ebb and flow with the progression of his sister's tale.
It was only when she finally spoke of how Wang Dapeng and his group had found her that Mi Guo breathed a sigh of relief.
As for the young masters like Young Master Li, Gu Qingcheng mentioned she had led them into the cave to face the consequences of their actions.
After all, when they returned, they had inquired, and Young Master Li and his group were still nowhere to be found.
Based on her experience, in that dark, unlit cave with no food or water, it was estimated they wouldn't survive seven days.
Before leaving, Gu Qingcheng had, unnoticed by others, collected all the food, water, and coal in the cave into her storage cabinet.
Now, the chamber she had left for Young Master Li and his companions was a completely barren, empty, broken stone cave, devoid of any supplies.
"Serves them right. They deserve to starve in there. They dared to treat you like that, they must have harmed many others before."
Mi Guo said indignantly. He was only slightly relieved to see that his sister wasn't particularly thin or haggard from the ordeal.
"Yes, killing them directly would have dirtied our hands. Besides, it wouldn't have been satisfying enough. Letting them taste the fear of confinement and suffer slowly before dying would be much more cathartic."
Mi Guo didn't understand the terms Gu Qingcheng used, but he found them pleasant to hear, as they were words used to describe the punishment of bad people.
"Sister, you handled that beautifully. But, sister, while you were gone, something strange happened to me at the inn, just two days ago," Mi Guo said.
"Oh? What strange thing?" Gu Qingcheng quickly inquired.
"Someone kept following me. They were tailing me secretly. At first, I didn't notice, but later, while I was eating at a restaurant, I coincidentally saw the same face appear before me three times throughout the day.
This was very unusual.
So, I used the method you taught me to test him.
After eating, I pretended to go back to the inn, crossed the road, and saw that person also cross the road behind me.
I immediately turned back, pretending I had forgotten something, and as expected, that person also followed me back.
At this point, I was certain this person was tracking me.
I didn't know the other party's intentions, so I didn't alert them and continued to pretend I didn't know, just to see what they wanted.
Unexpectedly, this person continued to follow me for two more days. Counting today, it's been the third day, but besides following, there haven't been any further actions."
"Hmm? That's truly strange."
Gu Qingcheng touched her nose, deep in thought.
The next morning, Mi Guo, as usual, left around eight o'clock to have breakfast at a nearby restaurant.
A man with shifty eyes followed Mi Guo, keeping a discreet distance, trying to conceal his movements.
Gu Qingcheng, wearing a veiled hat, followed closely behind this man.
Judging by his physique and gait, he seemed to have military experience.
Gu Qingcheng's heart stirred, and she followed the man tightly.
The man never expected that while he was the mantis stalking the cicada, he himself had become the prey of a hunter.
After finishing his breakfast, Mi Guo leisurely strolled into an alley. The man, of course, did not give up and followed closely behind him.
But the further he walked, the more he felt something was wrong.
This was a dead-end alley!
And where was Mi Guo?
By the time he came to his senses and looked around, he heard a voice from above laughing:
"Looking for me? Little master is here!"
Mi Guo had climbed onto the roof of the alley and was now grinning down at him.
This man turned out to be a Hanzi in his early thirties, dressed in simple black clothing, but his gaze was extremely sharp, and he exuded a murderous aura.
Despite Mi Guo's playful demeanor, he dared not underestimate the man. Upon their brief encounter, he could tell this person had taken lives before.
The man looked at Mi Guo warily. Seeing his whereabouts exposed, he let out a cold snort. Without any further action, he turned to leave the alley.
But he immediately realized the situation was unfavorable. At the entrance of the alley, seven or eight burly men had appeared, blocking his path.
"You? What do you want?"
Surprisingly, the man retorted.
"What do you want? I've seen you tracking me for days. What are your intentions?"
Mi Guo leaped from the rooftop to the top of the wall, then climbed down along the wall, questioning him.
"I wasn't tracking you at all, young master. You've misunderstood."
Seeing that Mi Guo had the advantage in numbers, the man immediately softened his tone.
"Be honest, or I won't hesitate to kill and dispose of bodies. I've done it often enough."
Mi Guo's gaze shifted, and he gestured.
Several of Wang Dapeng's subordinates at the alley entrance drew their knives and daggers, slowly advancing, creating a powerful sense of pressure.
"Don't do it, I'll talk, I'll talk."
The man quickly waved his hands in surrender.
In the brief moment of everyone's surprise, the man suddenly took a few steps forward, using the momentum of his run, leaped onto the wall, and with a few more jumps, using his martial arts skills, escaped the encirclement.
"Whoa, such good kung fu!" Gu Qingcheng emerged from the shadows, exclaiming, "It seems we've encountered big trouble this time."
"Sister, what should we do? Chase him?"
Mi Guo panicked upon hearing this.
"We can't catch him. None of us possess such skills."
Gu Qingcheng glanced at the burly men around them. Their physique was intimidating enough for ordinary people, but their martial arts skills were lacking.
It seemed imperative to recruit more martial arts talents.
"Sister, then what?"
"It's fine, I'll have Boss Du and the others investigate."
Gu Qingcheng touched her nose again, deep in thought.
Wang Dapeng stepped forward and asked, "Young Master Gu, why didn't you signal us to shoot arrows earlier?"
After they had formulated the plan, they had agreed that Gu Qingcheng would give a signal if they were to shoot arrows. However, Gu Qingcheng never gave the signal, allowing the man to escape.
"We don't know if the other party is friend or foe. If we had attacked rashly, it might have led to future trouble."
Gu Qingcheng replied.